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Good luck??

Good luck??

“Good luck!!” We hear it all the time. I’ve never been comfortable saying it, and cringe when a Christian friend offers me “good luck” instead of prayer!! What exactly are we saying when we use this term? Is it Scriptural?

=> Definition

According to online dictionaries, “good luck” can be defined as: good fortune or a happy outcome, “good luck” is a chance happening, or that which happens beyond a person's control.

=> Origins of the term

Did you know that “luck” actually comes from the pagan occult concept of "Karma", which is a concept from eastern mysticism: Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. . "Good luck!"..."I wish you good karma not bad karma."... "I wish you good luck not bad luck".

=> A Biblical perspective

Do things happen by chance? If they do, then we can speak of someone being lucky or unlucky. But if things don’t happen by chance, then it is inappropriate to use those terms.

Ecclesiastes 9:11-12“I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.”

In this verse, Ecclesiastes is sharing a perspective of a person who looks at life on earth without God. By leaving God out of the picture, there seems to be good luck and bad luck.

2 Chronicles tells the story about a warrior king, King Ahab. By “chance” an arrow shot up into the air at random, and just happens to pierce his armour in its most vulnerable location. The result was the death of the king, and the loss of the battle. Was it a matter of luck? If you read the whole of 2 Chronicles 18, we find that God had His hand in the matter from the beginning. The soldier who shot the arrow was totally unaware of its outcome, but God in His sovereignty knew all along it would mean the death of wicked king Ahab.

This Scripture refers to the use of casting lots, which is similar to the tossing of a coin or the rolling of dice, to settle certain judicial cases. It was used to find the guilty party. But, look at the following verse, which strongly states that it is God’s providence that determines the end result!

Proverbs 16:33“The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord.”Proverbs 18:18“Casting the lot settles disputes and keeps strong opponents apart.”

These verses in Proverbs indicate that something as random as the rolling of dice or the tossing of coins, is not outside God’s sovereign control. Results are not merely by chance! So it is for any event of life; no matter how small or how large, God is sovereign over all and thus nothing is merely the matter of chance.

Things may seem to happen at random, but throughout the whole of the Bible we are taught that God is in control of all of His creation. He is able to use everything and anything to accomplish His good and perfect will. Just take at look at this Scripture….

Genesis 50:20“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

And take at look at this verse….God promises that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him….to achieve His perfect will!

Romans 8:28“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

So, luck is about "chance". When some people think of luck, they are meaning something to do with randomness... probabilities... accidents... chance. But, as Christians, we say God is in control. Since we believe that He is in control, why would we need to wish good luck on someone? Perhaps a more appropriate thing to do would be to wish Gods blessings on someone, or wish them well?